Shulchan Aruch · Orach Chayim
In-depth pilpul
Talmudic sources, the underlying chakira,
and the positions of the Rishonim and Acharonim on completing
the hundred brachos of Shabbos with fruit
Subject:
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, siman ר״צ — 2 seifim
with the Tur, the Magen Avraham and the Mishnah Berurah
Mishnah Berurah: 8 entries on this siman
Written and edited by:
Rav Yossef Haim Samama · DAAT
📑 Table of contents
- The source of the sugya — Menachos 43b
- The underlying chakira — what are the hundred brachos, and how are they counted?
- Fruit, megadim and fragrances — three ways of making up the count
- The Rama's chiddush — do not give up the afternoon nap
- After the morning meal — establishing the beis midrash
- "It is forbidden to set a meal" — defining סעודה
- Workers and baalei battim compared with talmidei chachamim — the Yerushalmi's position
- Sleep on Shabbos — source and foundation
- Chiddushei Torah on Shabbos — what our teachers say
- Practical nafka minos and the line of decision
📜 The text of the Shulchan Aruch — 2 seifim
The siman consists of two seifim, and each carries a gloss of the Rama. The first calls for multiplying brachos in order to reach the count of a hundred; the second fixes the public study of the afternoon. Here is the text as the Shulchan Aruch gives it, the Rama's gloss being what Sefaria renders in small type inside the seif.
ירבה פירות ומגדים ומיני ריח כדי להשלים מנין מאה ברכות: הגה ואם רגיל בשינת צהרים אל יבטלנו כי עונג הוא לו (טור):
1. The source of the sugya — Menachos 43b
The whole siman hangs on two lines in Menachos: one stating the obligation, the other showing how an Amora went about it precisely on the day when it is hard to keep. The beraisa first:
« תַּנְיָא, הָיָה רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר: חַיָּיב אָדָם לְבָרֵךְ מֵאָה בְּרָכוֹת בְּכׇל יוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל מָה ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ שֹׁאֵל מֵעִמָּךְ״ » (מנחות מ״ג ע״ב)
The move from the word מה to the number מאה is not in the gemara: it is Rashi who says it, and one has to know this so as not to ascribe to the Talmud a derashah it does not spell out.
« מה ה׳ אלהיך וגו׳ - קרי ביה מאה » (רש״י מנחות מ״ג ע״ב)
What follows immediately is the direct source of our siman — an Amora who, on Shabbos and Yom Tov, took trouble to make up the count:
« רַב חִיָּיא בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב אַוְיָא, בְּשַׁבְּתָא וּבְיוֹמֵי טָבֵי, טָרַח וּמְמַלֵּי לְהוּ בְּאִיסְפַּרְמָקֵי וּמַגְדֵי » (מנחות מ״ג ע״ב)
Three comments of Rashi explain each of the terms, and between them they give the reason for the shortfall, the count, and the nature of the goods:
« בשבתות וימים טובים - דלא מצלו י״ח » (רש״י מנחות מ״ג ע״ב)
« טרח וממלא להו - למאה ברכות » (רש״י מנחות מ״ג ע״ב)
« באספרמקי ומגדי - אספרמקי בשמים ומגדי מיני מגדים שטעונים ברכה » (רש״י מנחות מ״ג ע״ב)
Three ways of accounting for the origin of the takanah:
- A scriptural source (Rabbi Meir): מה read as מאה — a derashah. The obligation is tied to the verse by allusion, and that is how the beraisa presents it.
- An enactment of King David (Tur, Orach Chayim 46, in the name of Rav
Natronai Gaon): David is said to have enacted it following a plague
that was carrying off a hundred people a day, and which it stopped.
« והשיב רב נטרונאי ריש מתיבתא דמתא מחסיא דהע״ה תקן מאה ברכות » (טור או״ח מ״ו)
« כי בכל יום היו מתים ק׳ נפשות מישראל ולא היו יודעין על מה היו מתים עד שחקר והבין ברוח הקודש ותקן להם לישראל ק׳ ברכות » (טור או״ח מ״ו)
The Shulchan Aruch there keeps only the obligation, without the attribution:« חייב אדם לברך בכל יום מאה ברכות לפחות » (שו״ע או״ח מ״ו:ג)
- A later rabbinic enactment: an ancient practice of Israel, handed down by tradition.
What comes out of this: whichever route is taken, the count of a hundred brachos a day is treated as an obligation — and it is that obligation which Shabbos puts under strain.
2. The underlying chakira — what are the hundred brachos, and how are they counted?
חקירה. What enters the count of the hundred brachos? The question is not idle: until one knows what is being counted, one knows neither by how much Shabbos falls short nor what has to be added to make it up.
The count of a weekday. The Mishnah Berurah works it out in full at siman 46: the brachos of waking and of the morning, the brachos of the Torah, tzitzis and tefillin, Baruch She'amar and Yishtabach, the brachos of Krias Shema morning and evening, then the amidos — ונ״ז ברכות דג׳ תפלות (משנה ברורה מ״ו סקי״ד) — and the two meals. Total:
« הרי בס״ה ק״ח ברכות » (משנה ברורה מ״ו סקי״ד)
So an ordinary day already exceeds the count, and the problem belongs to Shabbos.
What Shabbos takes away. The Shabbos amidah has only seven brachos — the Mishnah Berurah of our siman recalls this while giving the very reason for the rule:
« ועתה שנחסר לו כמה ברכות שבתפלת שבת יש רק ז׳ ברכות וע״כ ישתדל להשלימם » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ב)
Over four tefillos — maariv, shacharis, musaf, mincha — that comes to twenty-eight amidah brachos where the weekday has fifty-seven: twenty-nine fewer on that heading alone.
What Shabbos gives back. Shabbos adds, on the other hand, the brachos of the reading of the Torah and the haftarah, those of kiddush, and a third birkas hamazon. The balance is therefore not twenty-nine, and the Mishnah Berurah puts a figure on it:
« וביום השבת חסר לו י״ג ברכות מהמאה » (משנה ברורה מ״ו סקי״ד)
It is that shortfall — not the amidah gap by itself — that our siman asks us to make up.
נפקא מינה — does answering amen enter the count?
- First approach: one who answers amen is held to be joined to the bracha he heard, and his answer counts for him.
- Second approach: amen only serves as a substitute, and the obligation of a hundred brachos bears on the brachos a man says himself.
The question is not settled here, and this page will not settle it. What the Mishnah Berurah writes, however, is clear as to the standing of that route: it is open only where there is no fruit, and as a matter of dechak, directed at the brachos of the reading of the Torah and of the maftir — see siman 284:
« ואם אין לו יוצא ע״פ הדחק במה שיכוין לשמוע ברכת התורה והמפטיר ויענה אמן » (משנה ברורה מ״ו סקי״ד)
And the same Mishnah Berurah brings there the Magen Avraham's warning, which shuts the door on misplaced zeal:
« דלא יכניס עצמו בחשש ברכה שאינה צריכה משום מצות ק׳ ברכות » (משנה ברורה מ״ו סקי״ד)
In other words: one makes up the count with what one eats or smells in any case; one does not manufacture brachos in order to reach it.
3. Fruit, megadim and fragrances — three ways of making up the count
The Mechaber names three categories, and this is no stylistic list: each behaves differently as regards repeating the bracha.
« ירבה פירות ומגדים ומיני ריח כדי להשלים מנין מאה ברכות » (שו״ע או״ח ר״צ:א)
- Fruit (בורא פרי העץ / בורא פרי האדמה): what multiplies here is the change of species, not the quantity.
- Megadim — foods of מזונות: cakes, biscuits. Continuous eating does not call for a further bracha; it is interruption and change that do.
- Fragrances (ברכות הריח): this is the most productive
category, because the brachos are distinct according to the nature of what
is smelled — בורא עצי בשמים, בורא עשבי בשמים, בורא מיני בשמים, the Shulchan
Aruch distinguishing them at siman 216. But they are not repeated at every
inhalation: as long as one stays in the same place without turning one's
mind away, a single bracha suffices.
« ישב שם כל היום אינו מברך אלא אחת » (שו״ע או״ח רי״ז:א)
The Mishnah Berurah adds, in its very first entry, that Friday night too enters into this work of making up the count:
« וגם בליל ש״ק טוב שישלים בם המאה ברכות » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״א)
4. The Rama's chiddush — do not give up the afternoon nap
The Rama's gloss on the first seif is a single line:
« ואם רגיל בשינת צהרים אל יבטלנו כי עונג הוא לו » (רמ״א או״ח ר״צ:א)
קושיא. This gloss stands at seif א, the one about the hundred brachos — and not at seif ב, which deals with the study of the afternoon. What is a nap doing in a seif devoted to counting brachos?
תירוץ. The Rama is setting a limit to the effort the seif has just imposed. A man who wants to reach a hundred brachos might say to himself: I shall not sleep, so as to be able to eat and bless more. The Rama answers that oneg Shabbos is not to be sacrificed to that: the afternoon nap is itself a form of oneg, and the reason is given in the gloss itself — כי עונג הוא לו (רמ״א או״ח ר״צ:א). One who is used to it therefore does not give it up, and looks for his hundred brachos by another route.
The Mishnah Berurah holds both ends and refuses to let the argument be turned round:
« ומ״מ לא ירבה בו יותר מדאי שלא יביאנו לידי ביטול תורה » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ג)
5. After the morning meal — establishing the beis midrash
The second seif leaves the counting of brachos for the use of the afternoon:
« אחר סעודת שחרית קובעים מדרש לקרות בנביאים ולדרוש בדברי אגדה ואסור לקבוע סעודה באותה שעה » (שו״ע או״ח ר״צ:ב)
The source of this institution is the Yerushalmi, brought by the Beis Yosef at siman 288 and taken up by the Mishnah Berurah of our siman. The Yerushalmi places two voices there, and both must be read before anything is drawn from either:
« רִבִּי חַגַּי בְשֵׁם רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן. לֹא נִיתְנוּ שַׁבָּתוֹת וְיָמִים טוֹבִים אֶלָּא לָאֲכִילָה וְלִשְׁתִיָיה » (ירושלמי שבת פט״ו ה״ג)
« רִבִּי בְּרֶכְיָה בְשֵׁם רִבִּי חִיָיא בַּר בָּא. לֹא נִיתְנוּ שַׁבָּתוֹת וְיָמִים טוֹבִים אֶלָּא לַעֲסוֹק בָּהֶן בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה » (ירושלמי שבת פט״ו ה״ג)
The Mishnah Berurah keeps the second as the reason for forbidding a meal at that hour:
« לא ניתנו שבתות ויו״ט לישראל אלא כדי לעסוק בהם בתורה » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ז)
Why the Prophets and aggadah? The Mechaber names the two together, and the Mishnah Berurah specifies what the real content of the derashah must be — not a piece of eloquence, but the teaching of the law:
« והעיקר יהיה אז ללמד לרבים את חקי האלהים ואת תורותיו להורות הלכות שבת והאסור והמותר » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ו)
The Tur, for his part, gives the midrashic image that underlies the institution: the Torah complains before the Holy One that she will have no one to study her once Israel enters the Land, and she is answered that a partner is appointed for her, whose name is Shabbos.
« אמרה תורה לפני הקב״ה רבש״ע כשיכנסו ישראל לארץ זה רץ לכרמו וזה רץ לשדהו ואני מה תהא עלי אמר לה יש לי זוג שאני מזווג לך ושבת שמו שהם בטלים ממלאכתם ויכולין לעסוק בך » (טור או״ח ר״צ)
And the Tur also gives the talmudic sanction, from Gittin, of one who sets his meal at the hour of the beis midrash:
« אמר רבה בהני תלת מילי נחתי בעלי בתים מנכסייהו וחד מינייהו דקבעי סעודתא בשבתא בעידן בי מדרשא » (טור או״ח ר״צ)
« ואסור לקבוע סעודה בזמן בית המדרש » (טור או״ח ר״צ)
A point of attribution, not to be crossed. What has been said so far — the fixed study, the prohibition of a meal at that hour — is the Mechaber. The Rama, at seif ב, does not intervene on that: his gloss bears on the division between workers and talmidei chachamim, which is the subject of section 7.
6. "It is forbidden to set a meal" — defining סעודה
What is a "meal" forbidden at that hour?
- Narrow reading: what is meant is the set meal, the one that is fixed and lasts; eating in passing remains possible.
- Broad reading: any intake of food substantial enough to cause the shiur to be missed falls under the prohibition.
The Mishnah Berurah comes down on the side of the narrow reading, and gives the criterion — the absence of קביעות:
« ולאכול בלי קביעות סעודה כמו שרגיל בימות השבת נראה שמותר » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ח)
It also gives the reason for the prohibition, and that reason is what fixes its scope: if a meal is forbidden, it is because of the bittul Torah that would follow; one therefore moves the meal rather than cancelling it —
« אלא יקדים אותה או יאחר אותה » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ז)
A tension the commentators do not close. Two texts face each other at opposite edges of the same rule. The Magen Avraham, in the name of the Rokeach, writes that the derashah is not to be dropped for the sake of seudah shelishis:
« אין להניח הדרשה עבור סעודה ג׳ » (מגן אברהם ר״צ סק״א)
and the Mishnah Berurah, at the end of its last entry, writes that the derashah is not to be drawn out to the point of causing that same seudah shelishis to be missed:
« אין להמשיך הדרשה שיבטל עי״ז סעודה שלישית » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ח)
Both aim at the same afternoon from its two ends, and neither gives a measure. This is a place where the page stops: the ruling belongs to the Rav.
7. Workers and baalei battim compared with talmidei chachamim — the Yerushalmi's position
It is here, and only here, that the Rama intervenes in the second seif:
« ופועלים ובעלי בתים שאינן עוסקים בתורה כל ימי שבוע יעסקו יותר בתורה בשבת מתלמידי חכמים העוסקים בתורה כל ימי השבוע » (רמ״א או״ח ר״צ:ב)
The Beis Yosef, at siman 288, shows where this comes from: the two voices of the Yerushalmi cited above do not contradict each other — the Tanchuma divides them between two audiences.
« מה דא״ר ברכיה לת״ת אלו הפועלים שהם עסוקים במלאכתן כל ימות השבוע ובשבת הם באים ומתעסקים בת״ת ומה דא״ר חגי להתענג אלו ת״ח שהם יגיעים בתורה כל ימות השבוע ובשבת הם מתענגים » (בית יוסף או״ח רפ״ח)
The foundation. Shabbos is the balance of the week. One who has worked with his hands all week needs more study; one who has studied all week needs more rest and more table. This is not a rigid rule but a principle of balance, and it reads in both directions:
- the worker who has laboured all week comes to the Shabbos shiur;
- the talmid chacham draws out the oneg of the table a little more, because he already finds his pleasure in his learning the rest of the week — this is the Rama's own phrase: שהרי מתענגים בלמודם כל ימי השבוע (רמ״א או״ח ר״צ:ב).
8. Sleep on Shabbos — source and foundation
The Rama here is only taking up the Tur, and the Tur says it in the same terms, going straight on, moreover, to the establishing of the beis midrash — which explains the order of our siman:
« ואם רגיל בשינת הצהרים אל יבטלה כי עונג הוא לו » (טור או״ח ר״צ)
The foundation. Sleep on the day of Shabbos does not have the status of daytime sleep during the week. During the week it is a giving up of study; on Shabbos it belongs to the oneg, and it is on that account that the Rama forbids giving it up.
But the motive must remain the oneg, not the calculation. That is the limit set by the Mishnah Berurah and the Magen Avraham, each in the same terms — the Magen Avraham in the name of the Sefer Chassidim: sleeping on Shabbos in order to be fit to work after it reverses the order, and makes Shabbos the servant of the week.
« אבל לא יאמר נלך ונישן כדי שנוכל לעשות מלאכתנו במו״ש שמראה בזה שנח וישן בשביל ימות החול » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ד)
« לא יאמר בשבת נישן כדי לעשות מלאכתינו בערב » (מגן אברהם ר״צ סק״א)
A common mnemonic reads the three letters of שבת as the initials of שינה בשבת תענוג — "sleep on Shabbos is a delight." It is a notarikon in common use, not a quotation: no classical source is given for it here.
9. Chiddushei Torah on Shabbos — what our teachers say
« כתבו הספרים בשם הזוהר שמצוה על האדם לחדש חידושי תורה בשבת » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ג)
« ומי שאינו בר הכי לחדש ילמוד דברים שלא למד עד הנה » (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ג)
10. Practical nafka minos and the line of decision
| Point | What the source gives |
|---|---|
| A hundred brachos on Shabbos | To be made up — fruit, megadim, fragrances (שו״ע או״ח ר״צ:א); and failing that, through the brachos of the reading of the Torah and of the maftir, as a matter of dechak (משנה ברורה מ״ו סקי״ד) |
| Fruit | It is the change of species that multiplies the bracha, not the quantity |
| Fragrances | Distinct brachos according to the nature of what is smelled (siman 216); no repetition as long as one has not turned one's mind away (שו״ע או״ח רי״ז:א) |
| The afternoon nap | Not to be given up, because it is an oneg (רמ״א או״ח ר״צ:א) — but without excess (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ג) |
| The fixed study of the afternoon | The Mechaber institutes it: Prophets and aggadah (שו״ע או״ח ר״צ:ב), the content having to be the law and the fear of Heaven (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ו) |
| A meal at the hour of the shiur | The set meal is forbidden; eating without קביעות is permitted (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ח) |
| Workers / talmidei chachamim | More study for the first, a little more oneg of the table for the second (רמ״א או״ח ר״צ:ב, following בית יוסף או״ח רפ״ח) |
| Chiddushei Torah on Shabbos | Reported in the name of the Zohar; failing that, learning what one has not yet learned (משנה ברורה ר״צ סק״ג) |
יסוד. Siman ר״צ is a siman of balance. Three motifs are tied together in it, and each bounds the other two:
- completing the hundred brachos — an obligation of halachah, which the Magen Avraham at once prevents from spilling over into unnecessary brachos;
- the afternoon nap — the oneg of the body, which the Mishnah Berurah prevents from spilling over into bittul Torah;
- the fixed study — the oneg of the soul, which the Mishnah Berurah prevents from spilling over onto seudah shelishis.
None of the three overrides the others: it is their adjustment that is the subject of the siman, and that is why the Rama placed the nap in the seif about brachos rather than in the one about study.
Going further
Level 3 — Synthesis: a structured recap, memory markers, decision trees and practical rules.
Level 4 — Daat HaRav: the shitah of the Alter Rebbe (Shulchan Aruch HaRav).